Ulric Daubeny (1888–1922)

This book represents one of the things I like about private presses: it brings to our attention little known or overlooked authors of works worth knowing. This charming little book reprints two short stories by the enigmatic Ulric Daubeny, about whom very little is known. In addition to his fiction, his published work included musicology (Orchestral wind instruments, ancient and modern; being an account of the origin and evolution of wind instruments from the earliest to the most recent show more times. 1920), church architecture (Ancient Cotswold Churches. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Cecily Daubeny and the author's photographs, 1921) and antiques (How to Choose Antiques, (1924).

He published only one book of fiction, a book of short stories titled "The Elemental: Tales of the Supernormal and Inexplicable" (Geo. Routledge & Sons, 1919) from which these two tales were taken. These two ghost stories are not your pulse-pounding, make-you-pee-your-pants type ghost stories, but are rather much more genteel. As stated in the introductory note, “Daubeny’s stories are well-wrought pieces that are interesting to read for their portrayal of period mores and architectural environments.”

The first story, "The People of the Hidden Room", is the stronger of the two and revolves around a press (a large cabinet) that, if moved, returns to its original position of its own accord. The second is a calmer account of a girl who wasn’t there. Or was she?

Prior to this, I’d never heard of this author. Very few have, his best known piece being a short story "Sumac" which has been included in several anthologies over the years. I thoroughly enjoyed these two stories from another time, over a hundred years past to be a bit more specific.

Chad Oness has struck gold with this little charmer. It is, of course, most excellently designed and printed and the binding only adds to its beauty. Highly recommended! show less